In 2013, I did something I’d done only once before: I went to a range and shot some guns. Lots of guns. All shapes, ages, and sizes.

This is a very strange thing to do for a guy born British. Guns are featured almost nowhere in British culture.

Accordingly, I was unsurprised by the reaction of my mother when I called home and told her that I had a great time learning about firearms and discovering I wasn’t a bad shot, even with a WWII Enfield.

As the world handles the aftermath of the Great Recession and subsequent Eurozone Crisis, the Democratic and Republican parties continue to fight over most foreign policy issues in a stalemate that compromises U.S. influence in world affairs. The general lack of public will and support after prolonged engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan has left even the most noble of our leadership hamstrung, as the necessary political appetite for addressing the full portfolio of the United States' global commitments is diminished.

A Texas voter went to his local polling location to vote in the most recent primary election. As he waited in line, he had a decision to make. He knew who he wanted to support in the first stage of the voting process; he read the voter guides from various local newspapers and educated himself on the candidates. However, the biggest decision he needed to make was, what races would he have the most meaningful participation in?

Texas has an open partisan primary system.